| Middle East The European Union condemned the vote as illegitimate [AFP] Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has won a landslide victory in presidential poll securing 88.7 percent of the vote, parliament speaker Mohammad al-Laham has said. The two other candidates, Hassan al-Nouri and Maher Hajjar, won 4.3 percent and 3.2 percent respectively. The victory gives Assad a third seven-year term in office despite a raging civil war which grew out of protests against his rule. The head of the Supreme Constitutional Court said on Wednesday that the turnout in the country's presidential election this week was 73.42 percent. Live Box 2012108933861442 "I declare the victory of Dr Bashar Hafez al-Assad as president of the Syrian Arab Republic with an absolute majority of the votes cast in the election," Laham said in a televised address from his office in the Syrian parliament. The opposition and its international backers have denounced the election as a farce, saying the two relatively unknown and state-approved challengers offered no real alternative to Assad. Voting was held only in government-controlled areas, excluding vast chunks of northern and eastern Syria that are in rebel hands.

'Committed allies' Fawas Gerges, a Middle East expert based in London, called the election win a "culmination of Assad's accumulated victories" since his opponents took up weapons against his regime in 2011. "The opposition does not seem to be able to genuinely change the balance of power on the ground," he told Al Jazeera. "The opposition's allies - the US and others - have not been as solid and committed as Assad's allies. Assad's allies - Iran, Russia, Hezbollah - have fought tooth and nail to keep Assad in place." Hafez al-Assad | Jewish Virtual Library Tweet Hafez al-Assad was born in Kurdaha near Lattakia, Syria , on October 6, 1930. He obtained his High School degree in Lattakia in early forties. He showed interest in public issues during that period which witnessed the Second World War. He participated in demonstrations against the French Occupation as well as in political activities to attain independence, which was achieved on April 17th, 1946. He was elected to the Students Committee in Lattakia and chaired the first Students Conference in Syria.

At that time, as Chairman of the Committee, he led the student's movement under the banner of Al Baath Arab Socialist Party. Liberation from colonialism, Palestinian cause and other national issues were the prominent issues of his concern in late forties and early fifties. He formally enrolled in the Baath Arab Socialist Party in 1946, and struggled under its banner against the old political forces. He joined the Military Academy in 1952 where he chose the Air force Academy from which he graduated Air force Lieutenant Pilot in early 1955. On graduating he was champion in Aerobatics. He attended many military courses; the most important was in the former Soviet Union, as Fighter Pilot and Night & Day Fighting Pilot. He passed a course of Squadron Leader with Excellent degree in 1959. He also had excellent degree in a course of Air force Staff Officer in 1964. He was excluded from the Armed Forces on the 2nd of December 1961 and transferred to a civil job after cessation from Egypt on September 28, 1961, due to his national stand against that separation.

He was a main leader of the underground military committee (five members) that led the 8th of March revolution in 1963, initiating major contacts, both civil and military, that made the revolution a great success. He occupied leading posts in both the Regional and National Command of the Baath Arab Socialist Party until he became General Secretary of the party and he played a major role in the success of the 23rd February Movement 1966, which put an end to the conflicts within the party. He became Prime Minister, Minister of Defence on November 21st 1970 after leading the Correction Movement, which widely opened the party's doors to the Arab Masses. He was elected President of the Syrian Arab Republic in a referendum held on March 12, 1971. On the May 14, 1971, the new Regional Command of the Baath Arab Socialist Party held its first meeting and elected President Hafez Al-Assad Regional Secretary of the Party. In the second half of August 1971 he was elected Secretary General of the Party during its Eleventh National Conference.

He participated in many Arab and international summit conferences, such as the Non-Allied Countries, the Islamic and Arab Summits where he had a remarkable say in the service of our national issues. Asad led the War of October 1973. In 1976 Mr Assad had ordered Syrian troops into Lebanon , the vital buffer state between his country and Israel . Curbing Israel's power and influence was the central plank of his foreign policy. Syria was accused of backing state terrorist acts including the 1985 hijacking of a TWA airliner in Lebanon. Assad also allowed many Palestinian terrorist organizations to establish bases in Damascus, and also sponsored a Syrian faction of the PLO . An implacable foe of Israel, he refused to hold negotiations with the Jewish state until the historic 1991 Arab-Israeli summit in Madrid . Talks continued in limited bursts over the next decade Syrian President Hafez al-Assad died in Damascus at the age of 69 on June 10, 2000. He was succeeded by his son Bashar . A Short History Of Syria's Brutal First Family | Mic Copyright © Mic Network Inc. All rights reserved.

One World Trade Center, 285 Fulton Street 83rd Floor, Suite G, New York, NY 10007 Copyright © Mic Network Inc. All rights reserved. A Short History Of Syria's Brutal First Family Follow @policymic 1. The Al-Assads Come to Power Hafez al-Assad, who was born into a poor family, joined the Ba'ath party as a student and later became a lieutenant in the Syrian Air Force. After the 1963 coup in Syria, which established Ba'athist military control over the country, Hafez al-Assad was put in charge if the Syrian Air Force. In 1966, after yet another coup, he became minister of defense. From that point, he was gaining mass popularity in domestic politics, which allowed him to overthrow Salah Jadid, chief of staff of the armed forces. Hafez became prime minister in 1970, and in 1971 he was elected president. (Photo: Hafez al-Assad after his inauguration ceremony standing with the leader of the Ba'ath party and the prime minister). 2.

Federation of Arab Republics In April of 1971, Egypt's Anwar Sadat, Libya's Muammar Gaddafi and Syria's Hafez Assad gathered in Benghazi to sign an agreement on the creation of the Federation of Arab Republics. This union could potentially become a very strong alliance in politics. Although the idea was positively received among the population of these countries, the Federation lasted for only five years due to disagreements between the parties, and never led to full integration of the three. 3. 1982 Hama Massacre The Hama Massacre occurred in February of 1982, when the Syrian army besieged the town of Hama in order to quell an uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood. The operation was ordered by the president, Hafez al-Assad and perpetrated by the Syrian Arab Army under the command of General Rifaat al-Assad, the president's brother. Experts say that the casualty rate was as high as 40,000 civilians. 4. Succession Crisis In November of 1983, Hafez al-Assad had a heart attack. Rifaat al-Assad, his brother, tried to stage a coup to oust him in mid 1984.

Before banishing him into exile, Hafez al-Assad relieved him of his duties as commander of the Special Forces and appointed him ceremonial vice president. He was then sent to Moscow, after which he headed to Europe where he spent a life in exile, returning briefly to Syria in the late 1990s. 5. A Blow to the Family In January 1994, Hafez's eldest son, Bassel, died in a car accident on his way to the airport at the age of 30. Bassel was regarded as the Hafez's heir al-Assad, and his death was considered a threat to the country's stability. By that time, President Assad was having serious health issues and his son could have taken over the presidency at any moment. 1994 marked a turning point for Syria, because Bashar al-Assad, the current president, came into the picture. 6. Transition of Power from Father to Son In June, 2000 Syria's president passed away, having held power for almost three decades. Hafez al-Assad prepared Bashar to become the leader of the nation by securing support for him among the army chiefs and high-ranking government officials.

As a result of this, transition of power was very smooth with Bashar al-Assad first becoming the leader of the Ba'ath party and later elected president of Syria. 7. Bashar's Wedding When he assumed power in 2000, Bashar was still single, but later that year he got married to his London sweetheart, Asma al-Akhras, whom he'd met during his postgraduate studies at a hospital in London. A western first lady gave a new look to Assad's rule, as she's known for her immaculate taste and very democratic approach to politics. An article on Asma al-Assad was even featured in Vogue , but as it later turned out it was part of a PR campaign ordered by the al-Assads. Asma al-Assad gave birth to three children, one of whom was named after Bashar's father Hafez. 8. Cedar Revolution After the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon in 2005, which led to the collapse of the pro-Syrian government and withdrawal of Syrian troops from the country, Bashar's position was significantly undermined, even though he was re-elected in 2007. 9.

Syrian Civil War The photo from Bashar's official Instagram account shows Asma al-Assad embracing a relative of a man killed during the conflict. There were rumors that she had fled the country and went to Russia, but they were later refuted when she made a public appearance. However, other members of the family, including Bashar's sister Bushra with her children and his mother Anisa, are now living in Dubai. Bashar's brother Masher is the second most powerful man in Syria, and his troops play a key role in suppressing the rebels. Like us on Facebook: Bashar al-Assad | president of Syria | Britannica.com president of Syria Ḥafiz al-Assad Bashar al-Assad, (born September 11, 1965, Damascus , Syria), Syrian president from 2000. He succeeded his father, Ḥafiz al-Assad , who had ruled Syria since 1971. In spite of early hopes that his presidency would usher in an era of democratic reform and economic revival, Bashar al-Assad largely continued his father’s authoritarian methods. Beginning in 2011, Assad faced a major uprising in Syria that evolved into a civil war. Syrian Pres.

Bashar al-Assad greeting supporters at Damascus University, 2007. Bassem Tellawi/AP Early life Bashar al-Assad was the third child of Ḥafiz al-Assad, a Syrian military officer and member of the Baʿth Party who in 1971 ascended to the presidency via a coup. The Assad family belonged to Syria’s ʿAlawite minority, a Shīʿite sect that traditionally constitutes about 10 percent of the Syrian population and has played a dominant role in Syrian politics since the 1960s. Bashar received his early education in Damascus and studied medicine at the University of Damascus, graduating as an ophthalmologist in 1988. He then served as an army doctor at a Damascus military hospital and in 1992 moved to London to continue his studies. In 1994 his older brother, Basil, who had been designated his father’s heir apparent, was killed in an automobile accident. Bashar, despite his lack of military and political experience, was called back to Syria, where he was groomed to take his brother’s place.

To bolster his standing with the country’s powerful military and intelligence agencies, he trained at a military academy and eventually gained the rank of colonel in the elite Republican Guard. Ḥafiz al-Assad also sought to engineer a positive public image for his son, who until then had lived out of the public eye. Bashar was placed at the head of a popular anticorruption campaign that resulted in the removal of several officials but ignored the dealings of senior members of the regime. His image as a modernizer was burnished by his appointment as chairman of the Syrian Computer Society. Presidency Ḥafiz al-Assad died on June 10, 2000. Hours after his death, the national legislature approved a constitutional amendment lowering the minimum age for the president from 40 to 34, Bashar al-Assad’s age at the time. On June 18 Assad was appointed secretary-general of the ruling Baʿth Party , and two days later the party congress nominated him as its candidate for the presidency; the national legislature approved the nomination. On July 10, running unopposed, Assad was elected to a seven-year term. Britannica Stories Ringling Bros.

Folds Its Tent Although many Syrians objected to the transfer of power from father to son, Bashar’s ascent engendered some optimism both in Syria and abroad. His youth, education, and exposure to the West seemed to offer the possibility of a departure from what had been the status quo: an authoritarian state, policed by a network of powerful overlapping security and intelligence agencies, and a stagnant state-run economy reliant on shrinking oil reserves. In his inaugural speech, Assad affirmed his commitment to economic liberalization and vowed to carry out some political reform, but he rejected Western-style democracy as an appropriate model for Syrian politics. Assad announced that he would not support policies that might threaten the dominance of the Baʿth Party, but he slightly loosened government restrictions on freedom of expression and the press and released several hundred political prisoners. Those early gestures contributed to a brief period of relative openness, dubbed the “Damascus Spring” by some observers, in which public political discussion forums emerged and calls for political reform were tolerated. Within months, however, Assad’s regime changed course, using threats and arrests to extinguish pro-reform activism. Afterward Assad emphasized that economic reforms would have to precede political reforms. Structures of Government: Fact or Fiction?

Assad maintained his father’s hard-line stance in Syria’s decades-long conflict with Israel, continuing to demand the return of the Golan Heights and giving support to Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups. Relations with the United States worsened after Assad denounced the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Nationalist and anti-Western rhetoric soon became a standard part of Assad’s speeches. By 2005 Assad had used a series of cabinet reorganizations and forced retirements to sideline members of the “old guard”—powerful government and military officials held over from his father’s administration. They were replaced by younger officials, and many of the most powerful security positions went to relatives of Assad. However, even after this consolidation of Assad’s power, his reform initiatives remained tentative and largely cosmetic. Economic liberalization mainly benefited a politically connected elite without helping the many Syrians who depended on the faltering public sector for employment, services, and subsidies.

Britannica Lists & Quizzes Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies In early 2005, after the assassination of Lebanon’s former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri , Assad—under pressure from Western and Arab nations—committed to the removal of Syrian troops and intelligence services from Lebanon, where Syrian forces had been stationed since a 1976 military intervention. Although a United Nations investigation appeared to indicate some level of Syrian participation in the assassination of Hariri, the involvement of the Assad administration was not conclusively determined. In 2007 Assad was reelected by a nearly unanimous majority to a second term as president through elections generally received by critics and opponents as a sham. In his second term Assad took some tentative steps toward ending his country’s international isolation, seeking to mend relationships with regional powers, including Saudi Arabia and Turkey . Unrest and civil war Beginning in March 2011, Assad faced a significant challenge to his rule when antigovernment protests broke out in Syria, inspired by a wave of pro-democracy uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa .

(See Arab Spring .) While Syrian security forces used lethal force against demonstrators, Assad offered a variety of concessions , first shuffling his cabinet and then announcing that he would seek to abolish Syria’s emergency law and its Supreme State Security Court, both of which were used to suppress political opposition. However, implementation of those reforms coincided with a significant escalation of violence against protesters, drawing international condemnation for Assad and his government. As unrest spread to new areas of the country, the government deployed tanks and troops to several cities that had become centres of protest. Amid reports of massacres and indiscriminate violence by security forces, Assad maintained that his country was the victim of an international conspiracy to instigate sectarian warfare in Syria and that the government was engaged in combating networks of armed insurgents rather than peaceful civilian protesters. By September 2011 armed opposition groups had emerged and begun to stage increasingly effective attacks against Syrian forces. Attempts at international mediation by the Arab League and the United Nations failed to achieve a cease-fire, and by mid-2012 the crisis had evolved into a full-blown civil war.

In July 2012 Assad’s inner circle suffered its most significant losses to date when several senior security officials were killed by a bomb inside a government building during a meeting. Among those killed were Daoud Rajiha, the minister of defense, and Assef Shawkat, Assad’s brother-in-law and one of his closest advisers. Connect with Britannica Hafez al-Assad | theRevolutionCenter.com Hafez al-Assad Syria’s Hafez al-Assad was born October 6, 1930 and died of a heart attack June 10, 2000. His son, Bashar al-Assad , succeeded him as President. Dictator Hafez al-Assad and family Click for larger image Hafez was Prime Minister of Syria from 1970 to 1971, and President from 1971 till the day he died in 2000. From 1970 to 2000, he served as Secretary of the Syrian Regional Command of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party and Secretary General of the National Command of the Ba’ath Party. He was also Minister of Defense from 1966 to 1972.

Assad adhered to the ideologies of Arab nationalism, Arab socialism and secularism. Early Years Hafez was born in Syria to a poor Alawite family. Alawite is a minority religious sect that has its roots with the Muslim Shiite religion. In 1946, as a student activist, he joined the Syrian wing of the Ba’ath Party. In 1952, he entered the Homs Military Academy and graduated three years later as a pilot. From 1958-1961, Syria had a short-lived union with Egypt as the United Arab Republic. Gamal Abdel Nasser , president of Egypt at this time, along with other worried parties in both Egypt and Syria, were working to lessen the powers of the communists in the area. One of their solutions was a union between the two countries Nasser favored a federal union, not a total union, but he was more afraid of a communist takeover in Syria. If it were to be a total union, it would be on his terms. His terms was to demand that all parties be dissolved, the army would withdraw from politics, and a plebiscite by the people would be held.

The powers in Syria agreed with the plebiscite, but the other two demands were hard to swallow. However, Nasser was very popular in Syria, and the increasing strength of the Syrian Communist Party, worried the ruling Ba’ath Party. They were too weak to resist Nasser’s demands and it was already too late to make any changes. Like all other parties in Syria, Hafez al-Assad’s Syrian Ba’ath Party suffered when forced to disband. Egypt for a short time took over the majority of the positions in Syria, and although the union was doomed from the start, it averted the communist threat. From 1959–1961, Hafez lived in Egypt. While there, he and other military officers formed a committee to resurrect the Syrian Ba’ath Party. In 1963, two years after the short union with Egypt, the Ba’athists regained power in Syria, with Assad becoming commander of the air force. In 1966, Assad took part in a coup that overthrew the civilian leadership of the Ba’ath party. Its founders were sent into exile, and Assad rose to become Minister of Defense.

In 1967, Assad was dealt a blow that was to shape the rest of his future. It was during his time, when he was Minister of Defense, that Syria lost the Golan Heights to Israel, during the Six-Day War. In 1970, when King Hussein of Jordan attempted to expel the PLO from his country (see: Black September in Jordan ), Hafez tried to intervene by entering the conflict on the side of the Palestinians. Hafez sent in a brigade of armored forces. His forces included Commandos, the 88th and 91st Tank Brigades, and the 67th Mechanized Brigade with over 200 Russian built T-55 tanks. Hafez tried to send in the air force, but since he was involved with his own power struggle at home against Salah al-Jadid, the leader of Syria, and with the threat of an Israeli air raid against Syria, the Syrian air force was never involved. Almost overrun, the Jordanians eventually broke the will of the Syrian forces with their own unopposed air force. Late in the afternoon of September 22, 1970, the Syrians began to retreat.

After the Jordanian fiasco, Assad’s final coup against his internal rivals was to finish his protracted power struggle with Salah al-Jadid, chief of staff of the armed forces. Al-Jadid had been Assad’s political mentor and was the effective leader of Syria. Nevertheless, in November 1970, Assad seized total control and arrested Jadid, along with other members of the government. Ruling Years In 1970, Hafez al-Assad became prime minister and in 1971, he was elected president. At the time of his death in 2000, he had ruled Syria for 30 years. Hafez’s supporters have lauded him for being a champion of secularism, women’s rights, and Syrian nationalism. He earned praise for bringing stability to Syria, and for improving relations between Syria and the Western powers by supporting the USA in the Gulf War of 1990–1991 (also known as the Persian Gulf War, the First Gulf War, Gulf War I, or the First Iraq War). Under his administration, Syria saw increased stability with a program of secularism and industrialization designed to modernize and strengthen the country as a regional power.

With Soviet aid, Assad built up the Syrian military and gained popular support with public works funded by Arab donors and international lending institutions. Hafez’s critics criticized him for being a dictator and using brutal tactics. In 1982, when the Muslim Brotherhood mounted a rebellion in the Syrian city of Hama , Hafez suppressed the revolt by massacring between 10,000–25,000 people. Like most dictators, Hafez constructed a cult personality, while his authoritarian administration oversaw multiple human rights abuses both at home and abroad. Aside from his meddling in Jordan, as mentioned above during the Black September in Jordan incident, Hafez was also involved in Lebanon. He systematically eliminated political dissent with arrests, torture, and execution, both inside Syria and across Lebanon, to secure his control over the two “sister” countries. Hezbollah, the terrorist group inside Lebanon, still to this day enjoys Syria’s total support. In 1973 Assad changed Syria’s Constitution in order to guarantee equal status for women and enable non-Muslims to become president. The latter change was due to pressure from the Muslim Brotherhood. It was probably also due to his being an Alawite Muslim.

Since his religion is a small minority in Syria, Hafez was forced to embrace secularism else, his own power would be weakened. In foreign affairs, Assad tried to establish Syria as a leader of the Arab world. A new alliance with Egypt culminated in the Yom Kippur War against Israel in October 1973. Egypt’s unexpected cessation of hostilities exposed Syria to military defeat. In 1976, with Lebanon racked by the civil war, Assad dispatched several divisions to that country and secured their permanent presence as part of a peacekeeping force sponsored by the Arab League. After Israel’s invasion and occupation of southern Lebanon in 1982–1985, Hafez was able to reassert control of the country, eventually compelling Lebanese Christians to accept constitutional changes granting Muslims equal representation in government. Hafez also aided Palestinian and Lebanese resistance groups based in Lebanon and Syria. Hafez supported Iran in its war against Iraq (1980–1988), and sought to establish peaceful relations with Israel in the mid-1990s. His repeated call for the return of the Golan Heights stalled the talks.

Bashar Al_Assad - Pictures Pictures President Hafez Assad, the builder of Modern Syria, passed away on June 10, 2000 leaving behind unforgettable pages of glory and treasures of unshaken principles and doctrines. On his style-made correction approach, Syria follows the march under the leadership of his son, Bashar. Once the father changed Syria from a coup-plagued and unfruitful country to an oasis for progress, democracy and development. The son is highly expected to pursue the march on the way of modernization, welfare, steadfastness and progress. Seven years following his untimely demise, millions of the Syrians still feel today, more than ever, their urgent need for his fatherly smile, wise stances, peace efforts, prophetic visions, and the many of much of badly needed force. Personally, the tears of my son, Hafez, who was only six-years that day are still alive inside me with unanswered rhetorical questions: how is it possible even for children to so cry . Emotions, as all know, are never to be exported, imported, neither imposed or whatsoever; they are but to be felt!

What might console us, however, is the presence of Assad’s son, Bashar, who, masterfully, has been professional in navigating the Syrian Ship amid the strong storms of today’s crazy world into the safety shores; and apart from the heinous treason of those who were supposedly, one day, close associates and comrades! And apart from the warmongers hunger for killing, disorder and for innocents blood in today’s jungle zoo!!! President Assad was Born in Lattakia, Al-Qirdaha, a very beautiful Syrian Coastal village, on October the 6th, 1930, and Completed high school education- scientific branch- in Joul Jamal Secondary School. His Excellency led the Syrian students' movement since 1945. He joined the Baa'th Arab Socialist Party in 1946. He joined a Military Air Academy in 1952 and graduated as a pilot lieutenant in 1955 where he topped his batch and came first in all competitions. He attended several military training courses abroad as a fighter pilot where he successfully with distinction finished a squadron leader course in 1959.

He founded a military Baa'th party Committee in Cairo, Egypt, in 1959. He is one of the most distinguished leaders of March 8, 1963 Revolution. He is one leader of secrete command which led the Revolution. He served in top Baa'th Party posts (Regional as well as National Leadership) since 1963. He served as a pilot during the time of Unity between Syria and Egypt. Sacked from the Army in December 2nd, 1961, and was transferred to a civil job in the aftermath of the Syrian-Egyptian Union collapse. Effectively contributed to Syria's political struggle as to topple anti-Syrian-Egyptian Union regime. Played a leading role in February 23, 1966 Movement, the Movement which expelled the rightist wing of the Baa'Th Party. He was appointed head of Air Defense Forces. He served as Minister of Defense in 1966. He served as Prime Minister and Defense Minister on November 21st 1970 following the Correctionist Movement.

He was elected as President of the Syrian Arab Republic in a popular referendum on March 12th 1971. On May 14th 1971, he was unanimously elected as the Regional Secretary of the Baa'th Arab Party. In August 1971, He was elected as the Secretary General of the Baa'th Party. In 1972, He was awarded an honorable Ph.D. from Damascus University. He is the founder of the Progressive National Front, which groups seven parties. He led the liberation war of October in 1973 in which the Syrian Armed Forces scored victory and shattered the invincibility of the enemy. He is married; with a four- male and one- female family. President Assad rule has been characterized with cling to popular democracy whereby Syria's Constitution was adopted and Parliament role was boosted through the increase of the number of independent MPs as to ascertain full representation to all Syrians. President Assad has ever been the staunch defender of Arab nationalism, unity, and solidarity.

His Excellency has repeatedly underlined Syria's cling to the realization of the aspired-for just and comprehensive peace in the region on the bases of international legitimacy resolutions and said:" Our will for peace is boosted by determination on the liberation, restoration of rights and on safeguarding national dignity. It was our keenness on the peace process as well as on securing security and stability in the region which, time and again, motivated us to keep on announcing our preparedness to resume peace negotiations from where they broke off and on the basis of acknowledging what the previous two Israeli Premiers committed themselves to and on the same bases of the UN Security Council Resolutions and the principle of land for peace.". His Excellency has ever called for the establishment of a just balanced New World order in which" Neither the strong control others with their strength nor the weak are weakened by their weakness." Syria, under the wise historic leadership of President Assad, has realized growth and development on all sectors of life, especially at the economic level where economic plurality, private, public and joint sectors, was achieved along the political one. "This is a day of sadness and sorrow in every home, school, university, farm, factory and quarry," a tearful announcer said on Syrian state television.

"Sadness is in the heart of every man, woman and child. The legacy of his accomplishments and ideas is a planet that will shine not just in this generation, but also coming generations." Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, in a letter to Assad’s son Bashar, wrote that he was the last to speak to the Syrian leader. "His last words were: ‘our destiny is to build a better future for our countries, a safe future (for) our children. We have to give them something better than what we inherited.’ and then there was a sudden silence," Lahoud said in the condolences letter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Late President Hafez Al-Assad's Landmark Speech on March 11, 1999 President Hafez Al-Assad, the builder of modern Syria, delivered the following speech at the People’s Assembly on the occasion of taking the constitutional oath of office for a fifth constitutional term, March 11, 1999.

This speech, according to different analyses and readings, can be considered as the beginning of the Syrian March on the way of the 1970- Correction Movement, as to initiate the process of Reform and Modernization, masterfully masterminded and led now - notwithstanding the unjust pressures put on Syria by some countries- by His Excellency, President Bashar Hafez Al-Assad: I congratulate you on the confidence that has been entrusted in you by the people. It is precious confidence and a heavy responsibility to bear. I do not doubt that this great task of serving the people will require you all taking part in legislation and supervision. It also pleases me that your People’s Assembly (PA) will be a true representation of the various social strata in our country. Its members empathize with various social, cultural and economic groups. I, also in particular, express satisfaction regarding the increase in the number of women in this legislative session. I am hopeful that this increase will continue to grow, to allow women to seriously participate in formulating life in our country. A worthy participation. It also pleases me to meet you, after our people granted me their unanimous confidence which comes as a marvellous manifestation of our national unity and internal strength.

“We have moved from a position of weakness into a state of power and dignity. Syria has become able to carry out her national role and preserve national independence.” Renewing the constitutional term of office on the 10th of last February was mutual pledge between me and our people, who have entrusted in me their confidence, love and support. The past three decades have been filled with successful work and prosperous hope. We face up to difficulties and then we eliminate them. We have achieved tremendous achievements and now we are enjoying them. We have moved from a position of weakness into a state of power and dignity. Syria has become able to carry out her national role and preserve national independence.I pledge, in my capacity as leader of this country to be the keeper of this precious confidence. And to this forum, I once again extend my thanks and love to every citizen stressing determination to continue the struggle in order to meet the ambitions of our people and the continued struggle for the rights of the Arab nation. “Syria has built a solid base which has enabled her to move towards a brighter future.

Our confidence, from the very beginning, was that caring about people should be to the forefront of our priorities.” During the last 30 years we have realized great achievements in various walks of life. In the building of a sound economy, services, education, culture, sciences and the arts. Syria has built a solid base which has enabled her to move towards a brighter future. Our confidence, from the very beginning, was that caring about people should be to the forefront of our priorities. We worked to consolidate our material structure by constructing a strong national base, despite being besieged by problems and complexities imposed by regional and international conditions. “We established our democratic system based on the needs of our people, and their economic, social and cultural conditions.” Therefore, we have chosen a people’s democracy. We established our democratic system based on the needs of our people, and their economic, social and cultural conditions. This stemmed from their belief in freedom and pride in their own dignity. Every citizen has become a partner in decision-making and in bearing responsibility. In the village, in the city, in the factory as in the farm, in various careers and at the university. All these are linked to the process of consolidating the multi-party system and establishing the Progressive National Front.

Expanding the circle of decision making and freedom of discussion and participation is the guarantee to achieve the democratic process. In light of this, discussions in all establishments are but a positive and constructive phenomenon. Dialogue and discussion are the best ways to disseminate thoughts and push forward towards shouldering the responsibility; hence, I would indicate that democracy is not the citizen practicing his right in electing his representatives to the institutions. It is rather these institutions carrying out their role according to the constitution and the law. Any reluctance by any institution in carrying out its role and shouldering its responsibility and not taking relevant decisions, will weaken the country and its people’s democratic system. Cooperation between the PA, the Government, the Local Administration councils and the governmental institutions is a basic matter, but not to be at the expense of a role to be played by any of their institutions, especially the PA, which has effectively to carry out its role in supervision and following up matters. The PA’s carrying out of its role is not only an expression of a true democracy, but it is also a guarantee for the government to be well advised. Mr.

Speaker of the PA, the PA members, “There are still some areas that should be dealt with to modernize the State and enable it to perform its tasks in serving the people and ensuring their needs.” Despite the great efforts we have exerted to develop the State’s systems and institutions, there are still some areas that should be dealt with to modernize the State and enable it to perform its tasks in serving the people and ensuring their needs. We notice that besides those who devote themselves sincerely and with a sense of responsibility, there are others who have lost the sense of responsibility. They have neglected their duties, performed badly or made mistakes. The State cannot progress if such cases continue. Modernizing the State requires that every worker in the State, whatever his position, should shoulder his full responsibility. Developing work in the State’s bodies and establishments is an ultimate need and a national responsibility, so that the gap between us and others will not be enlarged. This is in order to be competent partners in all that is going on in political and economic developments in the Arab homeland and in the world. “We are committed to comprehensive development as a national responsibility to the State and society.

We have developed agriculture and industry, built dams, big industrial installations, set up economic pluralism, encouraged talents, given opportunities to all to contribute to society’s development. We have created solid economic and social base which has enabled us to complete our infrastructure, such as, electricity, roads, dams, potable water projects, schools, universities, hospitals, medical centers, social educational, cultural and health services,” Since November 1970, we have paid a great attention to the national economy and built an economic base upon which the progress of society and the country’s growth have relied. We are committed to comprehensive development as a national responsibility to the State and society. We have developed agriculture and industry, built dams, big industrial installations, set up economic pluralism, encouraged talents, given opportunities to all to contribute to society’s development. We have created solid economic and social base which has enabled us to complete our infrastructure, such as, electricity, roads, dams, potable water projects, schools, universities, hospitals, medical centers, social educational, cultural and health services, which have all contributed to raise our people’s living standards and meet their material and spiritual needs.

These big achievements push us to exert more effort and to shoulder responsibility and to realize social and economic increases which enables us to be competent partners in this world, strongly defending our rights and future. In the next stage, we have to concentrate on balance in the national economy by working to increase production, expand the base of development and investment, reconsider Investment Law in order to close the gaps which prevented maximum benefit from it and make new investments. We believe that developing and modernizing banking systems has become an urgent and necessary requirement. The government, in the next stage, should continue to develop agriculture, modernize agricultural investment methods, reduce production costs, discover new markets for agricultural products, so that this huge production will be turned into a supply source for the economy and not a burden on it. Also points of failure should be tackled in the process of land reclamation and dam building which have caused long delays in finishing the projects and increasing the costs ratio really, something which has caused the loss of additional revenues to the country. The economic public sector constitutes the national economy’s major base and a factor of economic and social balance. This requires attention in order to be able to achieve national and economic targets.

On this basis, the government, in collaboration with the Workers General Federation, should study the condition of this sector on the basis of liberating its companies from administrative and financial bonds that hinder its development, to draw up financial and administrative systems which enable the companies freedom of work and movement since it is an independent person working within the framework of the State’s general plan and to work for upgrading this sector’s administrative, vocational and technical qualifications of its workers. “I call upon all Arab officials everywhere to adopt brave and responsible stances capable of reviewing the Arab situation critically and objectively with a view to setting up a new course of inter-Arab relations conducive to ending the state of conflict and to reaching the state of cooperation and solidarity.” What makes us anxious today is the state of the Arab nation, their weakness, divisions and conflicts, fear of each other, fear of all the foreign dangers threatening them and working to impose hegemony and control on the Arab homeland, besides the Israeli aggression. Narrow regional interests surpassed pan-Arab interests and hence foreign forces were able to impose hegemony, and Israel was allowed to go on launching aggressions, to the extent that the Arabs were about to lose the potential for progress.

During the 1940s and the 1950s, the Arabs aspired for liberation and achieving Arab unity. In the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s, the Arabs’ aspiration was to realize Arab solidarity. Today’s aspiration is to end the state of in-fighting and inter-differences. Any Arab, whether an official or an ordinary citizen, cannot say that such a painful state of affairs may ensure security and stability and guarantee a decent living. There were great mistakes committed by either this or that brotherly state, and those mistakes have actually left deep wounds. But for how long and what is the final objective. Is it in the interest of any Arab official to generate these disputes for forthcoming generations and what is the price we pay and those generations will pay. I call upon all Arab officials everywhere to adopt brave and responsible stances capable of reviewing the Arab situation critically and objectively with a view to setting up a new course of inter-Arab relations conducive to ending the state of conflict and to reaching the state of cooperation and solidarity. “Some talk about making peace with Israel while we refuse peace between us.

Peace with Israel will not be achieved unless peace is materialized among the Arabs.” With my deep appreciation for the pain suffered by each party, great pains befall on us all, and the wounds we are all suffering should urge us to overcome the lesser pain in order to get rid of the greater pain. Some talk about making peace with Israel while we refuse peace between us. Peace with Israel will not be achieved unless peace is materialized among the Arabs. As she is fully aware of and deeply concerned over the current situation of the Arab nation and the dangers coming out of the continuation of this situation, Syria will continue seriously to work for attaining Arab solidarity, seeking a way-out of the current situation and founding new controlled bases for Arab relations guaranteeing to reach some agreement and to re-mount the struggle for building-up and progress.

“We have spent years of negotiations with Israel and achieved some progress with the participation of the US on both sides’ agreement on two main issues: pullback to pre 1967 lines and principles of security arrangements.” All the efforts we have exerted and those made by the international community to establish a just and comprehensive peace based on Madrid’s terms of reference have not achieved objectives yet due to Israeli policies which have refused to abide by peace obligations, and are adamant to pursue the policy of settlement and annexation. We have spent years of negotiations with Israel and achieved some progress with the participation of the US on both sides’ agreement on two main issues: pullback to pre 1967 lines and principles of security arrangements. “We are confident of restoring our occupied land in the Golan regardless of time, the might of aggressors and the circumstances of the Arabs.” But the current Israeli government has obstructed the agreement by refusing to resume negotiations from the point where they had stopped at and by rejecting what was concluded with the previous government. Peace is indispensable for all in as much as it eliminates all causes of wars, tension and hostility, returns the territories occupied in 1967 and the Lebanese territory totally and recognizes the Palestinian people’s national rights.

Any other peace is a surrender which will not be accepted by Syria and which will neither ensure security for Israel nor maintain stability in the region. The Israelis should realize that their current policies towards the Arabs cannot bring security for them nor peace to the region. The force allows launching aggression but can’t ensure security and tranquility. The conception of force is relative in time and place, and the elements of force are not static. What is going on in the occupied territories is vivid evidence, and whatever the might of this force possessed by the aggressors, it will remain weaker than the will of the people and their determination to end aggression and liberate the territories. We are confident of restoring our occupied land in the Golan regardless of time, the might of aggressors and the circumstances of the Arabs. “Today’s world is likely to be converted into a forest where force dominates and the norms, principles and values for which nations have struggled are absent. No doubt that the absence of discipline, weakening the UN role and the imposition of hegemony on "third world" resources threaten peoples of the loss of freedom in achieving self-determination and determining their options.

Nevertheless, the forces of hegemony talk about human rights while they are grossly violated.” What is taking place in today’s world under the absence of the international balance is the domination of unilateral pole, the double criterion, the hegemony of monopolist superpowers, the great evolution in communications and informatics, the increasing gap between rich states and developing nations, the breaking out of regional wars and ethnic and clan conflicts in different parts of the world, the economic and cultural doctrine of globalisation, the destruction of national borders and peoples’ identities and the stereotyping of peoples’ lives, conducts, moralities and priorities are altogether arousing fear and worries among nations. Today’s world is likely to be converted into a forest where force dominates and the norms, principles and values for which nations have struggled are absent. No doubt that the absence of discipline, weakening the UN role and the imposition of hegemony on "third world" resources threaten peoples of the loss of freedom in achieving self-determination and determining their options. Nevertheless, the forces of hegemony talk about human rights while they are grossly violated.

The call of the Non-Aligned Movement, China, France and Russia for a multi-polar system is a sign of the state of fear and worry, which is grave, if the unilateral hegemony goes on. It may yield new conflicts having extensions in economic wars and in instigating regional fighting, and only then will the world lose security, stability, justice, equality and freedom. Within the Arab, Muslim and Non-Aligned frameworks, we shall work to push out the mischief of the international lawlessness and its dangers on developing countries and world peace and security. We shall continue to work for developing our international relations in serving our national interests. We shall go on making dialogue with the European Union to set up a partnership in line with equal grounds serving interests of both sides. We shall also work for enhancing the role of the UN and the Non-Aligned Movement and for investing our world relations to serve our rights and objectives. Mr. Speaker of the People’s Assembly and Assembly Members, “The homeland is a question of destiny, of the present and of the future. Let’s work to safeguard the home irrespective of great sacrifices.” We have many duties to carry out in the forthcoming stage. The duties are demanded by the stage’s circumstances inside and outside the country.

Our success in achieving those duties is connected with faithfulness in words and deed, with abidance by national responsibility, with seriousness in action, with self-confidence and with the love of the homeland. The burdens shouldered by Syria in the current stage require high degrees of responsibility. The homeland is in need of much work, much sweat and blood of each citizen. The homeland is a question of destiny, of the present and of the future. Let’s work to safeguard the home irrespective of great sacrifices. I promise citizens to be always with them in shouldering the home’s burdens. May God help us all in doing what is right and what is good. Syrian President al-Assad re-elected, state media reports - CNN.com Al-Assad acknowledges people's "joy" over result, tells them not to fire into the air President Bashar al-Assad received 88.7% of Tuesday's presidential vote, state TV says Syrian opposition, Western countries said the election wouldn't be free or fair U.N. secretary general had urged Syria not to hold elections during war Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was re-elected in the country's first presidential vote since its civil war broke out three years ago, state-run television reported Wednesday.

Al-Assad received 88.7% of Tuesday's vote, the state media outlet said, in an election that took place only in areas controlled by the government. Rebels hold significant parts of the north and east of the country. Opposition groups and many Western countries have said the voting was rigged and that al-Assad's two little-known challengers -- Hassan al-Nouri, a businessman and former government minister, and Maher Hajjar, a lawmaker -- were just window dressing to give the undertaking a veneer of democracy. But the Syrian government has dismissed any criticism of the process. Al-Nouri received 4.3% of the vote, and Hajjar received 3.2%, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported, citing Parliament Speaker Mohammad Jihad al-Laham. The voting comes as war continues to rage in Syria. The United Nations estimates more than 100,000 people have been killed in the Middle Eastern nation since an uprising began in March 2011. That includes more fighting on Wednesday.

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria, a network of opposition activists, reports on its Facebook page that at least 24 people were killed in violence nationwide, including eight in Aleppo province and six in and around Damascus. In a nod to this ongoing warfare, al-Assad urged people not to fire guns into the air as an "expression of our joy and enthusiasm" -- saying doing so threatens citizens' lives and dishonors Syrian troops on the frontlines. In a posting on the presidency's Facebook page, cited by SANA , al-Assad told citizens to voice their feelings about the vote "in a way that reflects our high morals and civilization as Syrians." Yet not everyone believed the election was worth celebrating -- or that it should have been held at all. The office of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had urged the Syrian government not to hold the election, warning it would "damage the political process and hamper the prospects for a political solution" to the civil war. The Islamic Front, one of the largest armed rebel groups, claimed the al-Assad government was blackmailing people to vote in what it called a fake election. The British Foreign Office said the vote would "be a grotesque parody of democracy," and the U.S.

State Department said the al-Assad government took steps "to make it difficult if not impossible to have a fair and free election in Syria." The Syrian government said election monitors from the United States, the European Union or the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe wouldn't be present, but observers from some other countries would be. Syria isn't renowned for holding free and fair elections. When al-Assad came to power 14 years ago, he ran unopposed, securing more than 99% of the vote, according to state media. Seven years later, he won again with a similarly mountainous share of the vote. His father, Hafez al-Assad, ruled Syria with an iron fist for 29 years before he died in 2000. Al-Assad was propelled into the presidency even though he had shown little interest in politics [EPA] Bashar al-Assad inherited power in July 2000, a month after his father Hafez al-Assad died.

The senior Assad had ruled for three decades and his son inherited a government led by the Arab Socialist Baath party and dominated by Alawites - a Shia sect that makes up between five and 10 per cent of the population in a predominantly Sunni country (74 per cent). Founded in Damascus in 1947, the Baath party was a originally a pan-Arab secularist party opposed to what it saw as "Western imperialism". Its motto: "Unity, liberty, socialism". Hafez al-Assad, left, died June 10, 2000 after three decades in power Bashar al-Assad, who graduated with a degree in ophthalmology at Damascus University in 1988, and went to London in 1992 to further his studies, was propelled into the presidency despite showing little interest in politics. He was forced to return to Damascus, the Syrian capital, from London after his older brother Basil - who was initially groomed for the presidency - was killed in a car crash in 1994.

Assad went on to become a tank battalion commander in 1994, then lieutenant-colonel in 1997, before being promoted to colonel in January 1999. He was elected to the top body of the Baath party at its first congress in June 2000, and parliament passed an amendment to the constitution, scrapping the minimum age limit of 40 to allow al-Assad to run for president. He was elected president, officially with more than 97 per cent of the vote, and took office on July 11, 2000. Many had viewed Basil, who was chief of presidential security and often appeared in full military uniform at official events, as a man that would rule with an iron fist like his father. Bashar, who on the other hand was viewed as a modernist, was greeted with much more optimism. He promised to inject new freedoms and open up the Syrian market. But the package of reforms he began, known as the "Damascus Spring," proved short-lived, as members of the old guard stifled his initiative and steered him toward more orthodox, authoritarian policies.

With little room for manoeuvre, Assad soon began to speak of "economic reform before political reform". Human rights Under the rule of his father Hafez al-Assad, thousands of political opposition members were imprisoned under emergency laws implemented in 1963. Those powers, which deny citizens "the right to form associations, organisations or political parties in order to express or defend their opinions," remains in place today. Bashar al-Assad has released around 700 political prisoners since becoming president, boosting hopes of a major improvement in human rights. But there still at least 4,000 in prison and authorities continue to arrest political and human rights activists, censor websites, and detain dissident bloggers. Many Syrian expats and activists have been monitored, threatened and punished for their activities, even overseas . Critics say Assad's inexperience has hindered him from establishing Syria's place in the new world order [AFP] According to Human Rights Watch, as of 2009, Syria’s human rights situation, one of the worst in the world, had "deteriorated further". The government's response to protests that started on March 16, only reflected the "poor" human rights conditions.

Assad had insisted that Syria was immune to the uprisings that spread throughout the Arab world and toppled governments in Tunisia and Egypt in early 2011. But anti-government protests calling for a "revolution", the "downfall of corruption" and the release of political prisoners, have since spread throughout the country, with rights groups reporting that over 2,000 had been killed and by the sixth month of the protests. Critics say his inexperience in politics has made it difficult for him to establish Syria's place in the new world order. "Syria has become a dictatorship without a dictator," a European diplomat in Damascus said. He previously rejected comments by some observers that he does not hold full power in Syria, saying there is no logic in accusing him of being a dictator on one hand and lacking authority on the other. "You cannot be a dictator and not in control. If you are a dictator you are in full control ... I have my authority by the Syrian constitution," he said in an interview.

A muted response In the first eight months of the protests, as the number of deaths in Syria mount and a growing number of refugees escape to Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, Assad has kept a low profile, speaking less than a handful of times in public. His speeches generally make reference to the need for a national dialogue while touching on the protests being the work of foreign agents of disruption. For instance, during his June 20 speech at Damascus University, Assad stressed the "historic" nature of the current crisis, promising his "total commitment" to wide-ranging reforms in several sectors, including the media , for which he promised more freedom. He said that his country had been the target of "foreign conspiracies" for "geopolitical and [...] other reasons", and that those who were taking part in the current unrest were divided into three broad categories, in his opinion: those who were peaceful and had legitimate concerns; those who were "vandals" and "outlaws" [he said there were 64,000 of these]; and finally "radical and blasphemous intellectuals". His government, he said, was being hit by a political conspiracy.

"Conspiracies, like germs, reproduce everywhere, every moment and they cannot be eradicated," said Assad. "Yet we have to fortify our immunity. What we have seen through the media and political positions does not require a great deal of analysis to prove that there exists a conspiracy." Source: Agencies

Question: Hafez al Assad was the first democratically elected President of which country?
Answer: Syria